Meriam Yehya Ibrahim is safe at last!

August 13, 2014

Meriam Ibrahim leaving to Philadelphia (c)EPA/CLAUDIO PERI

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim and her family left Sudan and arrived in Italy on July 24, 2014. Amnesty International continues to press the government of Sudan to change the laws so that no one ever has to endure this kind of ordeal again.

She arrived in New Hampshire on July 30th to begin a new life with her husband and children. According to Ibrahim’s brother-in-law, Gabriel Wani, said Ibrahim had been granted asylum by the U.S. government. “I am so relieved,” Daniel Wani, Ibrahim's husband, said to reporters at the airport.

Thank you for the part you have played in this remarkable story!

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Under the weight of massive, truly impressive worldwide pressure, Sudan overturned Meriam Yehya Ibrahim's death sentence and released her from prison.

Over 1,000,000 Amnesty International supporters and members in Canada and worldwide spoke up for Meriam!
After being sentenced to 100 lashes and death by hanging, after over four months in prison with her 20-month-old son Martin, and after giving birth to daughter Maya on a floor in shackles, Meriam was released from prison and re-united with her husband Daniel.

But this happy family re-union turned sour very quickly. Sudanese officials detained Meriam and her family at the airport as they were trying to leave Sudan. Meriam has been charged with attempting to travel with false documents. Meriam, Daniel, and their two children are now living in the US Embassy in Khartoum while these new charges are addressed. Meriam may be out of prison but she is not yet truly free.

What an unimaginable ordeal this has been for Meriam! What a testimony to her strength that she held firm to her beliefs despite the injustice and mistreatment she experienced.

Meriam's story has inspired human rights supporters the world over, and forced heads of governments to stand with her and demand justice.

Meriam has taken a stand for freedom of religion and freedom of expression, rights we hold dearly. And they are rights that only grow stronger when we defend them. And she has drawn attention to the violations of women’s human rights that take place daily in Sudan.

Photo: Meriam, her family and her legal team after she was released.

The international pressure helped defend these rights. And more importantly, helped spare this incredible woman from the death penalty.

Of course, Amnesty's work is not done in this story. We will continue to follow Meriam's case until she is safely out of harm's way. And we will advocate for gender equalilty, an end to the death penalty and other human rights abuses that continue to be committed in Sudan.

We will urge Sudan to:

end the inhumane practice of flogging as a punishment

remove apostasy and adultery from the criminal code

establish a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty, and

end gender-based violence and discrimination

Tremendous victories like this give us hope for others who still need dedicated people like you and a strong organization like Amnesty International to defend their rights.

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